In the land of Hello Kitty and pink notebook PCs, Microsoft has produced a pink special offer for Vista Home Premium: it's bundled with a year of OneCare and a tips and tricks book.

Even more interesting is the price. I can't read Japanese, but if it really is 2500 Yen, that's only about $25, or £12.50. The UK recommended price for Home Premium is £219.99, which is, frankly, silly.

If only Microsoft UK would stack up a few shelves with copies of Vista Ultimate at £25 each then it would probably sell a few. Even at £29.99, it would be half the RRP of a boxed copy of Xandros Desktop OS Professional (Linux).